Letter: 'Framers' were indeed religious men

An Aug. 19 opinion piece by David Henning titled "Christian values" would lead one to believe that the "Framers" of our Constitution were not religious men, nor did religion have any part in their lives or the documents which they either authored and/or signed.

His first example cited is the Treaty of Tripoli. He gives credit for the authorship to "Washington and/or Adams." George Washington had nothing to do with the writing of this treaty. It is believed to be authored by Adams, Franklin and Jay and supposedly translated by Joel Barlow. There is some question as to whether or not Article 11, which Mr. Henning quotes, was in the original document, which, by the way does not exist.

The supposed document cited was translated from an Arabic version that can't be traced back as original either. That being said, I noticed that Mr. Henning didn't mention a previous treaty, one with a little more significance, the Treaty of Paris in 1783. You remember that one, the treaty that ended the war of independence? I quote the very first sentence, "In the name of the most Holy and undivided Trinity ..." Some familiar names are associated with this treaty as well (which does exist) - Adams, Franklin and Jay.

As for our "Framers" we need not look any further than the fact that all 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence had a religious affiliation, and all of the 55 signers of the Constitution had a religious affiliation.

Now I would not be so bold as to believe I know what was in the hearts of these men. All I can do is take them for what they actually said.

George Washington: "It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the bible."

John Adams: "Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."

Benjamin Rush: "Christianity is the only true and perfect religion ?"

There are many more such quotes. I ask you, do their words sound as though they were "not religious" as Mr. Henning states or were they men who held deep religious convictions?

Jeff Denning

Sheboygan

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Letter: 'Framers' were indeed religious men

An Aug. 19 opinion piece by David Henning titled 'Christian values' would lead one to believe that the '

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